Antiperspirants and deodorants are popular personal care products used to prevent or eliminate sweat and body odor caused by sweat. Antiperspirants typically prevent the secretion of sweat by blocking or plugging sweat-secreting glands, such as those located at the underarms. Deodorants counteract or mask the unwanted odors caused by bacterial flora in secreted sweat.
Antiperspirant and/or deodorant products may be dispensed in various manners. In some cases, the product may be supplied as a solid product material housed in a container having an open end through which access to the product material may be provided. The product material may be disposed on a screw-type elevating mechanism which extends through a portion of the container and can be driven by a rotatable handwheel. In order to advance the product toward an opening in the container, the handwheel may be rotated in a first (e.g., clockwise) direction to a particular position to thereby extend a portion of the product material beyond the container opening. If desired, the handwheel alternatively may be rotated in an opposite (e.g., counter-clockwise) direction to retract the product material into the container. However, for some users, the rotatable handwheel may be relatively difficult to rotate.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have improved mechanisms for dispensing antiperspirant and/or deodorants that are easier to use than conventional rotatable handwheel configurations. In addition, it is desirable for the improved mechanisms to be relatively simple to manufacture. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the inventive subject matter will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the inventive subject matter and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the inventive subject matter.